Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated yesterday that her "heart just broke" for the "unimaginable loss" suffered by Michael Brown's parents as a result of their son's death at the hands of a local police officer nearly three weeks ago. According to The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan, she also lamented the scene that followed on the streets of Ferguson: "Nobody wants to see our streets look like a war zone. Not in America. We are better than that."

I'm glad Clinton said something, but it's troubling that it took her so long to do so. The killing of Michael Brown and the subsequent unrest in Ferguson has raised substantial domestic policy questions, and the media and other prominent political figures have weighed in. Moreover, her comments were extremely blah - no deep personal introspection should have been necessary to arrive at her position. Her comments easily could have been made much earlier without offending any relevant constituencies. So, what gives?

Comments

You have the national media vilifying a town called Ferguson and calling it a Ghetto. The County wide police force purposely allowed the looters to break into businesses and loot. They did so to prove a point. Hillary sort of alluded to it. People don't want felons who have strong armed a store to be able to then assault a cop who confronts them for another infraction. The County Police purposely let the looters go wild. This is because the protestors that had signs which say: Hands Up! Don't Shoot!. The County politicians decided to add a phrase. I just wanna Loot!